


It Will Never Change, Baby

by haarleytargaryen



Series: No Control [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 17 year old!Liam, 20 year old!Zayn, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Best Friend!Niall, First Dates, Harry is only there for his jokes, Hurt!Liam, I really hope you like it, I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOREVER, IT'S FINALLY DONE FUCK, Liam isn't any better, Louis is a little shit, M/M, Past Relationships, Swearing, Zayn is a nervous wreak, basically based off of the night changes music video, but fails, im sorry bby, like seriously Harry is only mentioned like twice, like zayns part, nervous!Liam, nervous!Zayn, niall is the best friend ever, pathetic try at british swearing/language, perfectionist!Zayn, sorry bros, the author tries to be funny, waiter!Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 18:10:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3259409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haarleytargaryen/pseuds/haarleytargaryen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn and Liam go on their first date.</p><p> </p><p>Based off of the Night Changes music video.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Will Never Change, Baby

**Author's Note:**

> I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR EVER AND I CANNOT BELIEVE IT'S DONE.
> 
> I really hope you like it! I've been wanting to write something Ziam because I love them together so fucking much okay. Please comment your thoughts and kindly, /KINDLY/ critique it if you feel the need to. 
> 
> Please, PLEASE, enjoy. :)

Video can be seen [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syFZfO_wfMQ).

 

 

- 

 

 

Zayn is nervous.

It’s different this time. More important than all of the others – not like there were a _lot_ of others, but.

Liam is _it_ for him, though. Liam is all lanky and curly hair and puffy lips and birthmarks and puppy eyes and he killed Zayn the first time he laid eyes on him. He finally got the courage to get his head out of his ass to ask him out, which was nerve wracking to say the least. He thought about all of the possible outcomes of asking Liam out and none of them were positive. Zayn was one hundred percent sure that it wasn’t going to end well for him and his self-esteem.

It wasn’t like Liam looked like the person who would beat you to a pulp. He was all innocent and snarky. His brain was as large as his annoyingly loving heart. Skipping a year of high school, he was now in college, at a ripe age of seventeen. Having mostly straight A’s, he’s a magnificent guy and Zayn was way out of his league.

But he had to try, right?

But – God, Liam had said yes and Zayn was over the fucking moon. Jesus, he was three years older than the boy and Liam has gotten Zayn to his knees for him – he doesn’t even know it. He was already so enamored with him and it was ridiculous at how hard Zayn fell for him – but then it wasn’t.

And now here he was sitting in his car – has been for the past twenty minutes. He’s in a new, fresh black sleek suit with his hair combed to perfection. He was so nervous that he forgot to shave, but he thought that Liam liked him with scruff, so he let it stay. He’s looking at the delicate bouquet of red roses that sat innocently – but menacingly – on the passenger seat. He spent about an hour in the flower shop yesterday trying to find the perfect color and type and just- it was horrid. He just hoped that Liam was fond of red roses. _Cliché_ , Zayn thought.

He exhales a shaky breath as he checks his watch for the fifth time in the past minute. He should probably go and knock on the door and Christ, he’s actually doing this and he’s going to fuck everything up and then Liam won’t want to go out with him again and oh my God Zayn is going to throw up.

But it wouldn’t do for him to be a nervous wreck and ruin the night for Liam and himself. So, he slaps himself on the cheek before he plucks up the bouquet and hauls ass to the wooden door.

Getting his equilibrium back on track, he takes a deep breath, knocks on the door three times with his knuckles, and waits.

 _Make it worth it_ , Zayn’s subconscious hisses.

 

 

–

 

 

Liam is about to shit himself, he thinks.

 

He’s called Niall, his best friend, over to his house on the most important night he’s ever going to have and he can’t breathe and he can’t find the perfect outfit and-

“Jesus, Liam! Fuckin’ breathe!” Niall exclaims incredulously. This was getting ridiculous.

“I…” Liam tries to defend himself, tries to tell Niall that this is bloody important and dammit, he wants everything to go perfectly.

“Listen,” Niall starts softly. “If this Zayn guy likes you so damn much, he won’t give a single shit about what you wear. Hell, you could wear a fuckin’ potato sack and he’d still think you’ve hung the stars.”

Smiling weakly, Liam replies, “I highly doubt that, Niall.” He can feel his cheeks flush.

“Well from what you’ve told me about him, I think I’m right.” Niall says.

Sighing, Liam turns back to the wall length mirror by his closet, critiquing his entire image. He’s standing naked – except his underwear – and he’s completely stumped with what to wear for this date that’s causing him heart palpitations.

Grumbling to himself, Niall shoves his best friend out of the way, and goes into the disaster zone that is – was – Liam’s closet. Looking around the mess, he spots a dark red button up shirt hanging on the rail. He grabs it and gently flops it over his forearm. Coming back out into the bedroom, he pulls up the shirt with a light smirk on his face.

Scowling, Liam replies, “Lucky choice.”

Niall snorts as he lays down the shirt by Liam. “Sure,” he sings.

Feeling the soft material of the shirt, Liam asks, “Do you think he really likes me, Niall?”

Hearing the pure insecurity in his friend’s voice from outside of the closet, Niall turns and his brows furrow. “’Course he does, Li. Why do you ask that?”

“I mean,” Liam pauses, considering how to start explaining. “No one has really liked me since… you know.” At this, Liam lowers his head to his chest. He tries to not think about the past: it was no use to, really. Things happen. Sometimes horrible things. Other times, really amazing things happen.

What they were talking about, though, was a horrible thing.

“Hey,” Niall glares. “Tonight is seriously not the night to think about that – that piece of shit, alright? Don’t ruin this for yourself. Or better yet, don’t ruin it for Zayn either, okay? Please, Liam, you deserve to be happy, man.” Niall concludes, completely sincere.

Nodding reluctantly, Liam agrees. “Yeah… yeah, you’re right. Sorry.” He shakes his head at himself. _What was the point of thinking about him when you have an amazing guy wanting to take you out_? Liam thought to himself.

“No regrets… no regrets.” He whispers.

Turning back to Niall, he smiles teasingly. “So, what did you and your amazing sense of style pick out for me?”

Grinning widely, Niall holds up nice black dress pants and shiny black shoes. Nodding at the deep red shirt on the bed, he says, “This will make every girl and lad drop their pants, I swear.” He winks at Liam’s scoff.

Standing up, Liam shakes off his internal fear and grins shakily at his friend. “Can you help me get dressed then? I’m shit at tying a tie.”

Smiling with warmth in his blue eyes, Niall nods happily. “C’mon, let’s make you fuckable!”

 

 

–

 

 

Zayn thinks his heart stopped.

 

With sweaty palms, he retracted his fist from the intimidating door and nervously waited while stupidly holding the bouquet in his right hand. _Fuck, fuck, fuck,_ Zayn thought numbly. He must’ve forgot something! Did he brush his teeth vigorously enough? Did he put enough deodorant on? Oh shit, did he put on a good amount of his best cologne?! Or did he put on too much?! Oh god.

Oh. Oh, shit, the door is opening.

But, like. It was honestly exactly what happens in those cheesy movies.

The door opened and the world turned upside down. Zayn’s breath caught in his throat as he finally saw the one thing that made him question his existence.

God, Liam is beautiful.

His curls were bright and wavy as ever. They laid in a neat – but somehow messy – nest on top of his head. His eyes were bright and as rich as the most delectable caramel to ever be tasted. The corners of his eyes were squinted and his nose was scrunched up so adorably that it took all of Zayn’s power not to bop the tip of it with his pointer finger. But his smile – God. Liam’s smile was so blinding and his teeth were white and perfect and lovely and it just made him so much more gorgeous and just – indescribable. Zayn Malik could not, for the life of him, fully describe what Liam Payne was. He just… _was_. And then Zayn Malik was so blatantly inferior; it was ridiculous. How could anyone not want to just snatch Liam up and keep him hidden from everyone and anything? Zayn was enormously lucky to even get the privilege to be this close to him. He gets to see each thing that makes Liam himself.

“Hi!” Liam says, albeit a bit breathlessly. His cheeks are flushed and his smile is bright. And it’s all for Zayn.

“Hey,” Zayn chokes out. Jesus, he sounds so lame, but he gives Liam his best, genuine smile. “I, um, got these – for you.” He ducks his head as he gives Liam the stupid roses that has been given him anxiety.

Blushing brightly, Liam reaches out to pluck the gorgeous flowers out of his date’s hand. “These are lovely, Zayn. Thank you.” He bends his head to smell the flowers momentarily.

Thunderous footsteps come from behind Liam and his face turns to a mix of embarrassment and horror. He tries to quickly close the door but a pale hand grabs the side of it just in time.

“Oh, so this is the Zayn you’ve been talking about, Liam.” A blonde boy smirks in Zayn’s direction and Zayn chuckles nervously.

“Oh God,” Liam mumbles.

“Um, yeah. Hi, M’Zayn.” Fumbling slightly, he reaches his hand out to offer Liam’s friend.

“Ooh! Manners, this one has. And he even got bloody flowers! I like you already.” Winking, Niall grips the offered hand in a firm hold.

“I’m Niall, Liam’s best friend. Nice to meet his current obsession.” His laugh is a very loud laugh, with his blue eyes and mouth wide. Zayn instantly likes him.

“Oh my _God_.” Liam whispers harshly.

“C’mon Liam, go get your coat and put those flowers in some water. Don’t make this handsome bloke wait any longer!” Niall waves him back inside with a shake of his hand.

Blushing, Liam complies while mumbling incoherent things.

Turning back to his friends date, Niall’s expression turns deathly serious. Zayn’s shoulders flinch straight.

“Listen here, pretty boy,” Niall whispers. “Liam is the best guy you’ll ever get, alright? But he’s had to deal with some serious bullshit, and he doesn’t need any more negativity in his life. Now, just because I look like the friendliest person, I won’t hesitate to chop your dick off and shove it down your throat for you to choke on. So, basically: you hurt Liam and you lose the single thing that makes you a man. Got it, _mate_?” He finishes off with a harsh glare.

“One hundred percent, man. I honestly don’t think I’ve got it in me to hurt Liam, like. He’s sort of… it for me, yeah?” Zayn says in a sheepish tone.

Dark expression gone, Niall rewards him with another one of those large smiles. He answered correctly. “Nah, I get it mate. Just so you know, Liam’s definitely gone for ya.”

Heartbeat picking up, Zayn smiles. “Thanks for that, Niall.”

As he hears Liam’s footsteps, Niall talks louder, “Alright, lovebirds! Don’t be gone too long. I’ll have a search party out there before the both of you can blink!”

 

 

–

 

 

Zayn was about to lose his collective shit.

 

 

He’s really trying to not break down, but it’s kind of hard while the boy he’s lucky to be with is only a mere two feet away from him. He was so close, that Zayn can smell how delicious he smells. Like boy and fresh shower gel. But then, it’s something entirely Liam all together. Nothing can compare and shit, doesn’t that make Zayn sound like a twelve year old girl?

He needs to say something. Anything.

“This is getting ridiculous. C’mon, tell me something about yourself.” He smiles, turning his face in the direction of the passenger seat, not taking his eyes off of the road.

He hears a soft, breathless chuckle, and he knew then that he broke the ice.

“Okay… well, I have two older sisters. Their names are Ruth and Nicola. They’re pretty amazing, but growing up with them when they were teenagers was a challenge. They were always really hormonal and pretty mental, but when they finally went to college, I realized that I missed them way more than I would have ever admitted. Then theirs my mum and dad, Karen and Geoff. They’re the best parents I could have hoped for. I mean, sure, they work a lot.

“When I was about fourteen, I always got mad at them when they wouldn’t do something with me or have time to do something with my sisters and I. But when I had to move on to University early, they were there to help me through that and other personal things and I… I couldn’t be more grateful.” Liam finished, letting out a deep breath. As if this has been on his mind for a while, and he finally let it out. To Zayn. Said person took a few seconds to process that.

Zayn’s smile grew more at the confession, reaching over to grab Liam’s warm hand in his own larger one. “Your family sounds amazing. Hopefully I get to meet them, yeah?” He asks gently, biting his lip.

Liam giggles softly, rubbing his thumb on top of his hand. “I’m pretty confident you well, yes.”

Tuning out the rest of the drive, they were comforted in the fact that the silence was no longer awkward and icy. It was rather warm and serenely quiet.

 

 

–

 

 

When they got to the restaurant, Liam knew he was under dressed.

 

The place was a two story brick building, with an elegant black script on the front, in what looked like Italian. _Giro d’Italia_ , it said. Liam’s hands started to sweat nervously when Zayn all but sprinted to his side of the car. He was opening his door for him… He’s too much.

The second before the door opened, Liam quickly rubbed his palms on his pants.

But when he saw the beaming smile on Zayn’s face all nervousness disappeared.

“Um… I really hope you like the place I picked out. Not too flashy, right?” He asked, biting his lip nervously.

Pushing his fears away, Liam smiled reassuringly and grabbed his hand again, twining their fingers together boldly. “No, everything’s great, Zayn. This place looks gorgeous.”

Smiling widely, Zayn started to pull his date across the parking lot and closer to the old building.

“Not the only gorgeous thing around tonight, yeah?” He added cheekily, smirking slightly at the bright blush that appeared on Liam’s cheeks.

“Oh my God, that was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard,” Liam laughed in surprise, trying to suppress the heat on his cheeks.

“Hey! I get all of my jokes from my best mate Harry, actually,” Zayn paused, thinking his sentence over again. “Oh. Okay, yeah, that was awful.” He laughed despite making a fool out of himself.

When Liam got a good look at the inside of the restaurant, it completely went past his expectations.

The floor was a black and white marble, swirls of all shapes and sizes. The walls were a rustic color, different in each sitting section, to deep wine reds and bark browns. Expensive light fixtures hung above every table, giving the room a very intimate glow that Liam’s blush returned full speed. The tables were covered with thick white table cloths, going for the traditional look. Liam paled though, when he saw that there was more than the usual amount of utensils. Salad forks? Soup spoons? Appetizer spoons? Liam was in way over his head.

The workers were dressed in black and white, the girls wore knee length black skirts with a tucked in white blouse, with the white apron tied around their waist. The men wore a similar uniform, but only with pressed black trousers. Everything was pristine and gorgeous. Liam was afraid to see the price of the food.

When he realized that his date was unusually quiet, Zayn turned to look at his face, which was full of awe. “Do you like the place?” He asked nervously.

Blinking out of his haze, he smiled widely, not knowing that the smile made Zayn Malik weak in the knees.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous, Zayn. You really out did yourself.” Liam complimented, loving the way Zayn bit his lip in bashfulness.

“Hello!” A cheerful voice suddenly shouted at the pair.

Liam and Zayn’s head turned to see a girl about in her mid-twenties dressed in all black, with a red name tag saying ‘Amelia’. “Do you have reservations?” She asked with a bright, but genuine, smile.

Liam was about to speak when Zayn cleared his throat. “Um, yeah. It’s uh, under Malik.” He smiled shyly when he heard Liam choke on his breath beside him. He didn’t expect anything to be previously planned.

“Oh yes! You’re the one who kept calling to make sure the reservations were in place, yes?” She asked.

With a jerky nod, Zayn grimaced as Liam’s hand tightened in his own. It was true, what the hostess said. He actually called for reservations last weekend, the day he asked Liam out. Since this morning, he’s called the restaurant once a day just to make sure his reservations went through. He wanted everything to be impeccable and perfect for Liam because he deserves nothing less. It was a lot of pressure on him, but he took it in stride.

  “Uh, yeah. Just ah…” He trailed off, too humiliated to continue.

The hostess looked at the nervous bundle with a glint in her eyes as she grabbed two dinner menus. “Alright, follow me please!”

The couple trailed after her while looking around the dining hall they were escorted to. Against the farthest wall was a full, elegant bar with all of the expensive liquors one could think of. There was a very large, noticeably old wine collection hanging on the right of that. The tables were positioned throughout the place, booths or tables, of all sizes for any kind of gathering. The trio passed the more open area of the hall, through the high arched door, and into a more intimate, closed off setting. Around them were about a dozen other couples, already sipping on either red or white wine with their delicious smelling food in front of them.

Amelia directed them to a very secluded table, no other table on either side of it. She smiled a knowing smile as she watched Zayn look around the atmosphere brightly while Liam looked at Zayn with a fond one. Oh yes, they were completely smitten.

“Is this table to your liking?” She asked, only doing so due to protocol.

“It’s great, thanks,” Zayn smiled to the hostess once more as he almost tripped over his own feet – again – to pull out Liam’s chair for him.

Blushing, Liam walked over with a slightly more dignified fashion. He smiled at Zayn in thanks for being so polite. Not even a third of the way done with the date, and he’s already doing better than… him.

The girl put the two menus in front of each of them and said, “Your waiter for tonight is Lou. He’ll be right with you in a few minutes. Have a great night, you two.” With that, she skipped out of the hall and back to her post.

When she said the name of their waiter, Zayn could feel his heart freeze in his chest. Why didn’t he think of this before?! Fuck, he was such an idiot!

Seeing the look on the boy’s face, Liam asked, “What? What’s wrong?” Did he say something wrong? Rapidly, he thought back to every conversation they’re had so far tonight, but coming short.

“Uh, my mate’s boyfriend, Louis is our waiter tonight. Are you okay with that? He’s a complete embarrassment and if you don’t then we can just go somewhere else so yeah um-,” He took a breath when he saw the amused expression on Liam’s face. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just really funny that you think I care that your friend is going to be serving us tonight. It would be nice to meet one of your friends. I mean, I was going to meet them eventually right?” He smiled that smile that made Zayn’s entire body relax.

“Yeah… Yeah, sorry. I just don’t want him to like, tell any horribly humiliating stories of us when we were younger, s’all.”

At that, Liam’s smile grew larger. “Oh, I can’t wait for those! I bet you were a cute kid. All chubby cheeks and all, am I right?” He laughed at the mental picture he made in his head.

Blushing at the compliment, Zayn replied, “Not really. I was pretty lanky and weird. I didn’t have a lot of friends and I…” he choked as he realized he was actually telling his date how lame he was. Who does that?! “Why the hell am I telling you how boring I am again?”

“Well, I asked. I think it’s cute how your face gets when you’re really into a story. Your eyes sort of glaze over and you get this really cute smile on your face…” Liam blushed when Zayn gave him a suddenly intense gaze.

“Great. You think I’m cute. Just the reaction I was aiming for.” He chuckled as he saw Liam wave him off with his hand.

“Would you rather I think you were ghastly and rude? Or better yet, a prick with no personality?” He questioned, a small smirk on his face.

“Touché…” Zayn mumbled with narrowed eyes.

They kept to small talk, questioning each other about what they like, hate, and their hobbies. Liam learned that Zayn was a writer and painter. He was majoring in English though, to become a teacher. He also learned that Zayn liked to draw graffiti sometimes with his mates, and he dabbles in singing too. He says that he isn’t that good at it, but Liam instantly disagreed. “I bet you’re brilliant!” He said.

Zayn learned that Liam likes to box, sadly because he used to get bullied frequently back in high school. That was one of the reasons that he decided to up a grade one year early. He likes to read fiction and play piano. He took lessons when he was about ten years old, and he still does to this day. He also likes singing. He actually wanted to try out for X-Factor, but chickened out. “You would’ve made it big, Liam. You should’ve tried out!” He complimented him, knowing he would’ve performed at Madison Square Garden someday for sure.

When their waiter – Louis – finally showed to their table, Zayn was glaring daggers, practically daring him to embarrass him.

“Well, look who we have here!” Louis crooned. “When Amelia told me who was back here, I almost tripped twice on my way here. This isn’t my usual section, but I _had_ to be your waiter tonight, so.” He swiped up his notepad from his side pocket of his apron. “Sorry about the wait though. My original section was pretty busy.” When he finally look at Liam, his clear expression turned into a shit eating grin. “ _Well_. This must be Liam, yeah? Damn,” He whistled as Liam blushed at the attention. “Nice. Alright! What do you lovebirds want tonight?”

As they ordered, Zayn could feel his friends gaze on him. It made his neck prickle.

As Louis wrote down the last word, he finally spoke up. “So, Liam. Has Zayn told you about the time when the three of us were thirteen and he wanted to go swimming-,” he was cut off, but he expected nothing less of the reaction he was hoping for.

“NO! We are not talking about that. Anything but _that_!” Zayn pleaded, ignoring Liam’s curious expression.

“…And his swim shorts ripped off?” He continued on with the story anyway. He started smiling wider as he heard his friend’s quiet, distressed sounds in the background.

“His swim shorts were ripped off?” Liam asked, biting his pointer finger to try and stop the laughter from bubbling over.

“Literally, ripped off! Like, clean off with only one rip in them. He was diving in the pool, and his bottoms got caught and they just hung there. Oh God, that was amazing. Best day of my life, I tell you.” He turned his back at the couple as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes at his story. “I’ll put these in for you, alright? I’ll come back with your drinks.” And with that, the single most horrible person in Zayn’s life at the moment left the two alone.

Zayn was gaping after him.

 

 

–

 

 

“You have fun, you two!” Louis cackled after the pair.

Zayn was dragging Liam – gently as he could – out of the restaurant and back to the safety of his car. The dinner went fairly well, except when Louis was there… at all. The waiter kept giving Zayn knowing looks, or inappropriate funny faces behind Liam’s head during the entire meal. It was quite hard for him to keep a straight face while Liam would talk about something he should’ve probably listened to. Oh well. If this date went well for Liam then they would have all the time in the world to talk.

“I think the buttons on my trousers are going to pop. I’m so full,” Liam complained quietly as he buckled his seatbelt into place. He was an amazing time getting to know Zayn. He wasn’t perfect: no human was perfect. But fuck, he was damn well close to it. He was artsy, mellow – but still nervous somehow – he’s smart, funny… he was so comfortable to be around, it was crazy how close to perfect he was to Liam.

“Louis was interesting,” Liam commented as Zayn closed the door on his side. He kept a straight face as he talked, faking being mad, to see what Zayn would do.

Seeing the expression on his face, Zayn paled. “Shit, Liam I’m so sorry. I really didn’t know that Louis was working tonight. I tried really hard to make everything perfect and I was being an idiot ‘cause I forgot one little detail and you won’t want to see me again and I ruined this entire thing didn’t I? And I-,” he cut himself off abruptly as he felt a softness rub his own lips softly, but firmly. Getting into it, he pushed his head forward slightly, puckering his lips more. As the kiss broke off, he looked over at Liam with wide eyes, trying to get his breathing back in control.

“You’re really cute, you know that?” Liam questioned, with slightly red cheeks as he pulled back his abrupt action. “Louis was great, I liked him. You need to stop putting so much pressure into this. I like you a lot and I had a lot of fun tonight. If it makes you feel better, I would love to go on another date with you sometime soon…” He had to pause and take in the gorgeous smile that Zayn shone for a moment. His lips were a bit puffy and red from the attack, and heat pooled in Liam’s stomach. “But it doesn’t have to always be so… fancy all the time. I would enjoy a night at your place with sweats on, pizza on the table, and a horribly cheesy movie on. Sound good?” He didn’t know where the sudden confidence boost came from, but it didn’t matter. The quick and excited nod he got from his date made it worthwhile.

As Zayn turned the ignition on, he thanked some unknown force out there for multiple things. He thanked for Liam Payne. He was grateful for the opportunity to even glance at him. He finally thanked for the music that automatically came on to hide his loud, erratic heartbeat from the greatest kiss he ever had. He didn’t expect this night to go this way, though.  But a little change didn’t hurt, Zayn concluded.

 

 

-

 

 

_End_

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? I really hope you did. Comment your thoughts below! :)


End file.
